U.S. ELECTED TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000496 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM AORC UNGA PREL SUBJECT: U.S. ELECTED TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The United States won election to the UN Human Rights Council on May 12 with 167 votes cast in our favor during secret balloting, with a vote count that was among the highest the United States has ever received in a vote in the General Assembly. Also elected by the General Assembly were Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Hungary, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Uruguay. Of the two competitive slates, Azerbaijan failed to reach enough votes for election within the Eastern European States Group, and Kenya did not win election within the African States Group. END SUMMARY. ¶2. The 63rd Session of the General Assembly in plenary elected 18 States to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council in accordance with Assembly resolution 60/251 (April 2006) establishing the 47-member Council as the United Nations principal human rights body. Five of those elected will be sitting on the Geneva-based body for the first time: the United States, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Belgium, and Norway. The other states were re-elected. The terms of office for all newly elected members will begin on June 19, 2009. WEOG holds the next presidency, although that president has not yet been chosen. ¶3. (SBU) The results of the only round of voting were as follows: a) Among the African States to fill 5 seats, there were 191 valid ballots cast: Senegal (165),Mauritius (162),Nigeria (148),Cameroon (142),and Djibouti (141) were elected. Kenya (133),a latecomer to the election, disrupted an African sub-regional rotation agreement to run a clean slate and probably lost by a critical margin as a result. b) Among the Asian States to fill 5 seats, there were 189 valid ballots cast: Jordan (178),Kyrgyzstan (174), Bangladesh (171),China (167),and Saudi Arabia (154) were elected. Malaysia drew 2 write-in votes. c) Among the Eastern European States to fill 2 seats, there were 190 valid ballots cast: Russian Federation (146) and Hungary (131) were elected. Azerbaijan (81) was rebuffed in its request for another term despite presumed support of the Non-Aligned Movement and the OIC. Hungary mounted a strong campaign and won handily over Azerbaijan. d) Among the Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) to fill 3 seats, there were 187 valid ballots cast: Mexico (175),Uruguay (173),and Cuba (163) were elected. e) Among the Western European and other States Group (WEOG) to fill 3 seats, there were 185 valid ballots cast: Norway (179),Belgium (177),and the United States (167) were elected. Switzerland drew 2 write-in votes; Greece and New Zealand each drew 1. Although it announced its candidature late in the election cycle, the United States nonetheless drew 90% of the ballots and in absolute numbers outpaced Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba, among others. ¶4. (SBU) The U.S. conducted a short, vigorous campaign to exceed the required 97 votes. The other two candidates in the WEOG campaigned for significantly longer, likely contributing to the marginally higher vote count for each. Unlike the United States, both Norway and Belgium enter into reciprocal support arrangements with other candidates to UN elected bodies. The U.S. vote count was among the highest we have ever received in an election in the General Assembly (90% of eligible votes). The number of votes we earned closely tracked promises of support received in recent weeks from Member States in New York and in capitals, which positively differed from our experience in some other UNGA elections in which the number of actual votes was less than prior commitments. Rice